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Magnetic Field Draping Over the HeliopauseThe interaction of the interstellar medium with the solar wind leads changes in the interstellar magnetic field near the heliopause. The effect due to the magnetic field lines being draped over the heliopause, similar to spaghetti being draped over a ladle. This draping causes changes in the orientation and magnitude of the magnetic field. The draping of the magnetic field is studied here in two ways. One is to assume that the magnetic field is unimportant in determining the flow of the plasma. The flow velocity can then be found using the gas-dynamic equations and the magnetic field can then be determined by assuming it is "frozen" into the plasma due to its high conductivity. A second method is to use the full magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) equations to determine both the flow and the magnetic field of the plasma simultaneously. In this method, the dynamical influence of the magnetic field is taken into account. An application of this work is to the 2-3 kHz radiation: the priming mechanism for our group's theory leads to the prediction that the ability for a particular region in the outer heliosphere to emit high power radiation depends upon the magnetic field. Inverting this it may be possible to identify the high magnetic field regions near the heliopause (and the orientation of the interstellar magnetic field) by observing where high power radiation is emitted. This in turn allows the distant interstellar magnetic field to be estimated. Other outer heliosphere projects
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 Figure. The interstellar magnetic field just above the heliopause. The thin linear band where B is large corresponds to the predicted 2-3 kHz emission source region. |